115. The remaining shadow
The crystal illuminated memories of the past.
“No, no… What are you all doing now! Come to your senses quickly!”
“Mo, my body doesn’t listen… Oops!”
Arcel, who had collapsed after drinking her drink, was barely able to get up after being treated by her saint, but the others could not and her saint had already died.
The knight who was holding the shield was already bleeding from the mouth and was motionless.
Furthermore, the nightmare did not end there.
“Dragon, warrior…”
“Wait a moment! Find a way to solve it somehow…! Damn!”
“Quick, do something for me…”
The wizard barely called Arcel and spoke.
Her darkened face looked painful to anyone who saw it, and she was suppressing herself, barely holding on to her consciousness.
But that won’t last very long.
Black spots were spreading out like shadows on her hands and neck.
Her hands are already preparing a spell that will blow up not only this forest, but also the nearby base where the wounded are.
“I beg you… Before it’s too late, hurry up and get me… Ah…!”
A wizard holding his head in pain.
With those words, the wizard lost himself.
Afterwards, it starts screaming and recognizes everything around it as an enemy.
If things continue like this, the wizard will eventually destroy everything.
Arcel had no choice but to pull out her holy sword.
Because I knew that if I left her here, her situation would only get worse.
Phew!
In the end, she stabbed the wizard directly in the chest with her own hand.
Red blood drops run down the blade of the holy sword.
The drops of blood form on Arcel’s hand.
The magician returned to consciousness briefly after the magic was lifted, and with a faint smile, he expired.
“…I’m sorry.”
Sharp!
Even before they could understand what had happened to them, Arcel, whose body had already reached its limit due to the battle with the Demon King, lost consciousness and collapsed.
He was so mentally shocked by the situation that had already strained his body that he could no longer maintain consciousness.
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But there is no way the world would accept such an individual’s circumstances.
Because fate and God tend to become more mischievous at the worst moments.
The knights who had lost control of their bodies were flocking around Arcel, who had already fallen.
“…I won’t let you harm the hero.”
As an assassin came down from the ceiling to stop the knights, the girl moved Arcel to her corner and began to deal with the knights alone.
Maybe it was because I was used to poisoning, but I felt uncomfortable and was able to maintain consciousness because I didn’t inject alcohol into my body.
But if I felt uncomfortable, I should have stopped everyone from the beginning.
I kept quiet for fear of ruining the atmosphere, which led to this happening.
I really regretted not stopping the others, but the moment I regretted it was already too late.
Now is the moment to take responsibility for it.
“…”
Anyway, the assassin did not lose consciousness, but problems were still piled up like a mountain.
Arsel is not the only one whose physical condition is not normal due to the decisive battle with the Demon King.
No matter how accustomed an assassin is to dealing with humans, they are at a huge disadvantage in a head-on confrontation like this.
However, each of the opponents was Hermod’s elite knights, who were said to be above elite.
I had to deal with the guards that Karkal had specially composed of only the strongest knights in the kingdom, in such a narrow space.
This happened in a situation where victory was not certain even in perfect conditions.
Finally, after a long battle, when the assassin lost strength in her legs and fell, the knights skillfully took advantage of the opportunity and took the girl’s life away.
I couldn’t even imagine what the original shape of the pieces of meat scattered randomly on the floor was.
“Ugh…?”
When Arcel finally came to his senses again, such a scene unfolded before his eyes.
His own companions are all finished, and the knights are now approaching with blood-stained swords drawn, aiming for him.
What did Arcel think when he saw that?
Feeling of betrayal? Despair? Sadness?
Of course, all three were deeply entrenched in Arcel’s emotions.
But what was most deeply rooted was the guilt of not being able to protect his comrades.
He somehow managed to kill the rampaging knights later, but there was no one he could save.
“Hero?! Are you safe?! “What on earth happened…”
And the last thing shown is a scene where Karkal is running towards me with a very surprised face.
He probably came back in a hurry because he felt the strong smell of blood and death, but by the time he came back, everything was already over.
“Ha…”
Looking at the blood on his hands and seeing himself staining the holy sword with blood, Arcel laughed.
I think I was out of my mind for quite some time after that.
He couldn’t eat or sleep for several days, and he was delirious and only laughed.
Then, he barely regained consciousness in prison.
That was a fragment of a nightmare-like memory that Arcel had tried to forget by deceiving himself until now, and that he did not want to experience again.
†††
‘I see, this is what happened back then…’
Arsel looked back at the memories reflected by the crystal.
Indeed, if I had remembered these things, not only my ego but also my soul would have collapsed long ago.
Perhaps the already broken heart was brought back to its senses by an indomitable will.
It was such a terrible sight that I regretted seeing this memory and wanted to go back in time.
But Arcel closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts and picked up the crystal.
I knew roughly what happened here.
I have spent too much time immersed in sadness about the past.
Now was the time to move forward.
‘Then ultimately, the cause was the alcohol I drank at the time.’
This is the place where the queen proposed holding a festival to commemorate defeating the devil.
‘Certainly, it was strange.’
At first, she requested that the warrior come to the festival, but he refused because of her physical condition, so the queen had no choice but to send alcohol and meat to the warrior’s lodgings.
Furthermore, they attached top-level knights who could be considered excessive as escorts and made them toast together.
She didn’t ask for it, and even though she refused and said it was okay, she was semi-forced to send it.
Of course, there is a possibility that a third party poisoned the alcohol, but considering the previous preparations, there was only one person responsible for all of this.
Only the queen can make all these preparations.
They say something happens once in a lifetime, but it would be foolish to make an exception to such an astronomical probability.
‘But why?’
It was such an amazing thing.
Even though Arcel knew all of this, he didn’t feel anything.
I wasn’t angry at the fact that I had caused his comrades to die, nor was I sad that I had seen another terrible memory.
There is only one thing I am lifting right now.
‘Why did the queen do such a thing?’
I was wondering why all this was done.
If he was wary of himself having a power comparable to that of the Demon King, there would have been plenty of ways to call Arcelman aside and eliminate him.
The aftereffects from the battle with the Demon King lasted for several months.
However, her queen used not only her own colleagues but also her kingdom’s elite knights as her scapegoats.
There is a saying in gambling that you should increase the stakes, but was it really necessary when dealing with the remaining monsters was already a headache?
Or did she have a reason to get rid of herself even if she did something like that?
Arcel gathered his thoughts and came out.
“Huh? Is it over already? You can stay a little longer if you want. “Isn’t that coming out too quickly?”
Alfred said, welcoming us with just his head.
Zion was looking at the Kingdom of Hermod while holding Alfred in her arms.
“I learned the process. “Now all that’s left is the answer.”
The answer hasn’t been found yet, but in any case, only one person can hear the correct answer.
“But baby, I guess you can’t hear the answer anymore. Because the child who found out the truth before you finished it.”
“…Is that so?”
What Zion is talking about is probably Stella.
Stella learned the truth before Arcel and invaded the Kingdom of Hermod, and as expected, there is no one in the Kingdom of Hermod capable of dealing with Stella.
Carkal might have been able to take some time, but he was old and many knights had lost their lives in the war.
Hermod’s current power is not even half of what it was during the war with the Demon King.
The queen herself made it that way.
“You don’t have to worry, even if you kill that earl first, you can just revive him as an undead. If you want, I will make it so that you can feel the pain and torture yourself.”
“There’s no need to go that far… No, I’d like to hear the reason for doing something like that.”
“You? Wow… He must have been quite angry.”
“I wasn’t particularly angry.”
“Yes, that’s right. I don’t think you’re angry either. It didn’t just grow, it grew so hard that the top turned. They say that when people get too angry, they start laughing. That’s you right now.”
Alfred finds Arcel’s reaction unexpected.
I thought she would eventually forgive her even if she got angry for a moment like usual Arcel, but Arcel was calm now, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of forgiving the queen.
It was like the calm before the storm.
“If you want, I can send you to the Kingdom of Hermod. “Even if I go anyway, there won’t be anything for you to do.”
It was a little disappointing, but maybe this was a good thing.
It’s a shame that Stella went and dealt with it first, but if Arcel had gone and confronted the queen in person, Arcel himself couldn’t have predicted how he would react.
It seems like nothing is wrong now, but can it really be like this with the queen, the culprit of everything, right in front of us?
Honestly, I can’t guarantee.
I didn’t want to make a mistake and not be able to control my strength and end up hurting the people of Hermod’s Kingdom.
†††
After a while, Arcel looked at the broken wine glass and asked Shion.
“I have one question.”
“What were you curious about?”
“You would know. “What is the identity of the black substance that brought destruction to the elf land and created that terrible disaster?”
Alfred said it was like an epidemic.
It causes you to lose yourself, paralyzes your reason, and eats away at your body.
The queen used it to bring not only themselves but also the elf land to destruction.
Then what on earth is it?
It was clear that Zion would know.
Perhaps the reason I didn’t tell you until now was because I didn’t ask.
“Well, what do you think, grandchild?”
“It feels bad. “This is probably the first time in my life that I’ve seen something as unpleasant as the Demon King.”
Alfred even stuck out his tongue and said he was disgusted.
If it were so bad, he would have cut off the hand that touched that black thing, but Shion chuckled as he looked at it.
“No, it’s not the first time my grandson has seen that.”
“But I’ve never seen anything like that before?”
Alfred frowns and asks what he is talking about.
Shion gave him time to think about it, but Alfred couldn’t seem to think of anything no matter how much he thought about it.
Arcel also thought it was a bit strange that Alfred seemed to know nothing like that.
“Baby, think carefully. Because you saw its true identity before I did. “Both our grandson and our baby just can’t think of it, so if we slowly remember it, we’ll be able to figure it out.”
It is even said that Arcel saw the identity of the black thing before Zion.
To summarize, it is like this.
The identity of that black thing is that Alfred has already seen it, and Arcel discovered it before Sion.
Furthermore, it felt as instinctively repulsive to Alfred as the Demon Lord.
Based on that, Alfred quietly thinks with his eyes closed, and finally opens his eyes as if he has figured out what it is.
“Ah, I know what it is. “Is there anyone who can applaud for me?”
“Have you noticed its identity?”
“Nothing? “Then I have no choice but to fill it with my gums.”
“…”
Party!
As if there was nothing he could do, Alfred summoned a skeleton and clapped.
Although it was a skeleton with only bones, its hands were made with flesh and could make applause sounds.
However, perhaps because it only had hands, there were no other connecting parts, so blood was flowing down from the skeleton’s hands.
“Indeed, I have seen what it is, but I don’t think I can remember what it is. Anyway, I’ve never seen it in person. You’re the only one here who saw it first. “I understand why it was as repulsive as the Demon Lord.”
Alfred said, pointing to Arcel.
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“Now tell me what it is, because I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what it is and it’s very frustrating.”
Arcel hugged Alfred’s head and asked about his identity.
But he said there was no need to ask.
“It’s as simple as it sounds. It wasn’t as repulsive as the Demon King. “I was disgusted because he was the devil.”
“…That doesn’t mean-“
Arsel is embarrassed after hearing the story.
“Yes, that black thing is a part of the demon lord you defeated in the past and also what made up the demon lord. “The strongest demon king who will never fall. No one could have seen that in person other than you, who cut off his own head.”
With that, Arcel was finally able to find out his identity.
“Wow, who is not the devil? Even the blood flowing through his body is evil. “There’s a reason Grandma Clen hated it so much.”
The Demon King never shed a single drop of blood until the final battle with Arcel.
This was because he had the strongest strength and a nearly invincible body.
The first and last time the strongest demon king shed blood was when he was decapitated by a warrior who never gave up.